Work starts on £65m runway extension at Birmingham Airport

WORK on a £65m scheme to extend the runway at Birmingham Airport was expected to begin today.

The extension, which won planning permission in 2009, will give the airport the ability to offer long-haul flights to Asia and the US west coast.

It has been hailed as the most important transport project in the region since work began on Birmingham’s £600m New Street Gateway revamp.

The runway extension is also part of a wider strategy to improve capacity at the airport as it challenges London in its bid to become a national aviation hub. A new terminal building and control tower are already in place at the airport and further new developments are planned.

Longer term, it will also improve the airport’s chances of securing improvements such as a station connection on the proposed new HS2 high speed rail link between London and Birmingham.

Airport shareholders gave the green light for the 400 metre extension earlier this year after a complex funding package finally came together.

In addition to £40m from the airport, the government will contribute £15.7m from the Regional Growth Fund towards the cost of diverting the A45 to make way for the runway extension. Regional transport authority Centro will also contribute £10m towards the work.

Airport chief executive Paul Kehoe said that by meeting local demand, the airport would reduce unnecessary long-distance travel to other UK airports and generate sustainable long-term economic growth for the local area.

At just 2,600 metres, the current runway length restricts the range of destinations, markets and routes which can be served directly from the airport, resulting in thousands of people each year having to make long surface journeys to airports outside the Midlands region such as Heathrow and Manchester.

To have unlimited aircraft types flying directly to long-haul routes requires a longer take-off distance to enable aircraft to take off with a full payload.

However, even when the runway extension is complete it is still the short and medium haul services into the UK and Europe which will provide the airport with its volume business.